Table of Contents€¦ · The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw Patrick F.McManus short story 93 Saying Good-bye to the Tall Man Rick Book short story 100 Because I could not stop for Death

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Table of ContentsLife in the Middle 8

Active Reading 9

UNIT ONE

Self Portrait

Dear MarshaJudie Angell short story 12

Hanging FireAudre Lorde poem 25

Golden GlassAlma Villanueva short story 26

Tif fanyas told to Rebecca Carroll personal essay 31

Time Somebody Told MeQuantedius Hall poem 35

JaredDavid Gifaldi short story 36

Almost Ready:Arnold Adoff poem 53

The One Who WatchesJudith Ortiz Cofer short story 54

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t O n e 62

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UNIT TWO

Family Album

Looking for WorkGary Soto autobiography 66

A Plate of PeasRick Beyer memoir 73

AshesSusan Beth Pfeffer short story 76

After the DivorceJewel Kilcher poem 85

Atomic Blue PiecesAngela Johnson short story 86

The Night the Bear Ate GoombawPatrick F. McManus short story 93

Saying Good-bye to the Tal l ManRick Book short story 100

Because I could not stop for DeathEmily Dickinson poem 111

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t Tw o 112

UNIT THREE

Friendly Photos

Kiss ing TennesseeKathi Appelt short story 116

The Dream KeeperLangston Hughes poem 121

A Robot Doesn’t Have a Cur ve Bal lRon Koertge short story 122

DawnTim Wynne-Jones short story 135

Josh: The Smartest Dog in the WorldGary Paulsen personal narrative 153

The Fitt ing of the Sl ipperWilliam J. Brooke short story 162

Inter viewSara Henderson Hay poem 177

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t T h r e e 178


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UNIT FOUR

School Pictures

Pig BrainsAlden R. Carter short story 182

The MetaphorBudge Wilson short story 192

Mrs. GoldwasserRon Wallace poem 209

This Is a Test Stephen Gregg play 210

Pass/Fai lLinda Pastan poem 230

What Is and Ain’t GrammaticalDave Barry essay 231

A Letter from the Fringe Joan Bauer short story 235

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t Fo u r 244

UNIT FIVE

Neighborhood Panorama

The Pi l l Factor yAnne Mazer short story 248

AmirPaul Fleischman short story 264

Post HumusPatti Tana poem 268

War GameNancy Werlin short story 269

What Happened During the Ice StormJim Heynen short story 278

The RunawayRobert Frost poem 280

Block Party—145th Street StyleWalter Dean Myers short story 281

in the inner c ityLucille Clifton poem 291

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t F i v e 292


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UNIT SIX

Postcards from Beyond

Black Angel Nancy Springer short story 296

Horse by MoonlightAlberto Blanco poem 308

The ElevatorWilliam Sleator short story 309

Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at LargeJames Alan Gardner short story 316

Turn! Turn! Turn!Pete Seeger song lyrics 330

The Wife’s StoryUrsula K. Le Guin short story 331

The DefenderRobert Lipsyte short story 336

R e s p o n d i n g t o U n i t S i x 346

Active Reading and Writing 348

Author Biographies 365

Index of Titles and Authors 373

Acknowledgments 375

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Life in the Middle■ ■ ■ ■

Adults sometimes think that kids have it easy—no job to get to,no debts, and no major responsibilities. But you know that’snot the real picture. You have a job all right—to attend schooland learn all you can. You may not have the same concerns thatadults have, but you do have concerns, and many young peopletoday feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to theirfriends, their schools, and their families.

They also worry about what the future holds—never mindgetting through one more day in the present. Most studentsyour age feel lost and confused now and again. “Who am I and

where am I going?” you may ask. Finding out is an important part of growing up.

We have gathered the selections in this book with your life in mind—your hopes, yourdreams, your fears, your interests, your happy times, and your sad times, too. We have chosenstories and poems written by the finest authors of our time—people who understand thehuman condition and delight in sharing their interesting perspectives with readers your age.They know that becoming an adult is not an easy journey. You will encounter dead ends,rough roads, and washed out bridges. But you will also experience the exhilaration of thewind in your hair and the sun in your face.

Your life right now may not always be what you’d like it to be, but at least on a good day,it should be exciting, challenging, and educational. It should offer you the chance to be cre-ative and adventurous—and to get to know yourself a little better, too. We hope you enjoywhat you read in the pages to come, and that your reading helps you better understand your“life in the middle.”

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9

Active ReadingWhat Is It and Why Is It Important?

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Reading is a lot like sports. Both require practice and a goodunderstanding of the rules. In both you have a goal, either toreach the finish line or to finish the last line. And both demandactive participation. Of course reading does not leave you sweatyand exhausted like a good game of soccer, but it does require lotsof activity—mind activity. Like a good athlete, a good reader mustbe on his or her toes, ready at all times to spring into action.

That is what Active Reading is all about: Jumping into yourreading with both feet, getting involved, being a part of theaction, and relating to the characters. The chart below will helpyou understand, remember, and use the Active Reading strate-

gies. If you train yourself to use these strategies every time you read, they will become secondnature to you. Soon, you will be using them without being aware of them. You will become askilled reader who learns efficiently and enjoys reading.

The Six Active Reading Strategies■ Questioning Ask questions that come to mind as you read.

Example: The first little pig built his house of straw, what will the second little pig use?

■ Predicting Use what has happened to guess what will happen next.Example: The Big Bad Wolf is going to huff and puff and blow the stick house down, just as hedid the straw house.

■ Clarifying Clear up confusion and answer any questions you may have.Example: The wolf blew down two houses, but does he really think he can also blow down abrick house? Yes. He tries, but fails.

■ Connecting Compare the text with something in your own experience or with other thingsyou have read or seen.Example: I think that the wolf has met his match. If I were the wolf, I would leave this thirdpig alone.

■ Summarizing Review what has happened so far.Example: The wolf has been able to blow down a straw and a stick house, but not the brickhouse of the third little pig. He is now going to climb down the third little pig’s chimney.

■ Evaluating Use evidence in the selection as well as your common sense to form opinionsand arrive at conclusions.Example: The story of the wolf and the three little pigs is a good example of using the rightmaterials to combat disaster.

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UNIT TWO

FamilylbumA

Our own talk at dinner was loud with bellylaughs and marked by our pointing forksat one another.

from “Look ing fo r Work”by Gary Soto

Active Reading Alert!PREDICTINGAs you read the selections in this unit, keepguessing as to what will happen next.Predicting keeps you thinking about the plot,what the characters are up to, and wherethe author may take you next. As your pre-dictions come true (or do not), you canmake new predictions—right up until the endof the story.


Looking for WorkGary Soto

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O ne July, while killing ants on the kitchen sink with arolled newspaper, I had a nine-year-old’s vision ofwealth that would save us from ourselves. For weeks I

had drunk Kool-Aid and watched morning reruns of Father KnowsBest,1 whose family was so uncomplicated in its routine that I verymuch wanted to imitate it. The first step was to get my brother andsister to wear shoes at dinner.

“Come on, Rick—come on, Deb,” I whined. But Rick mimickedme and the same day that I asked him to wear shoes he came to thedinner table in only his swim trunks. My mother didn’t notice, nordid my sister, as we sat to eat our beans and tortillas in the stiflingheat of our kitchen. We all gleamed like cellophane, wip-ing the sweat from our brows with the backs of our handsas we talked about the day: Frankie our neighbor was beatup by Faustino; the swimming pool at the playgroundwould be closed for a day because the pump was broken.

Such was our life. So that morning, while doing in thetrain of ants which arrived each day, I decided to becomewealthy, and right away! After downing a bowl of cereal, Itook a rake from the garage and started up the block tolook for work.

We lived on an ordinary block of mostly working-class people:warehousemen, egg candlers,2 welders, mechanics, and a unionplumber. And there were many retired people who kept their lawnsgreen and the gutters uncluttered of the chewing gum wrappers wedropped as we rode by on our bikes. They bent down to gather ourlitter, muttering at our evilness.

At the corner house I rapped the screen door and a very largewoman in a muu-muu3 answered. She sized me up and then askedwhat I could do.

“Rake leaves,” I answered, smiling.“It’s summer, and there ain’t no leaves,” she countered. Her face

was pinched with lines; fat jiggled under her chin. She pointed tothe lawn, then the flower bed, and said: “You see any leaves there—or there?” I followed her pointing arm, stupidly. But she had a job

1 Father Knows Best: a television show that aired from 1954 to 1962, depicting apicture-perfect family with a mother, a father, and three children

2 egg candlers: people who test eggs for quality

3 muu–muu: a long, loose dress with bright colors and patterns

Looking for Work

mimickedmade fun of by imitating

�As you read, compare and

contrast the family in the

story with families you know.

LITERARY LENS


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for me and that was to get her a Coke at the liquor store. She gaveme twenty cents, and after ditching my rake in a bush, off I ran. Ireturned with an unbagged Pepsi, for which she thanked me andgave me a nickel from her apron.

I skipped off her porch, fetched my rake, and crossed the streetto the next block where Mrs. Moore, mother of Earl the retardedman, let me weed a flower bed. She handed me a trowel4 and for agood part of the morning my fingers dipped into the moist dirt, rip-ping up runners of Bermuda grass. Worms surfaced in my search fordeep roots, and I cut them in halves, tossing them to Mrs. Moore’scat who pawed them playfully as they dried in the sun. I made outEarl whose face was pressed to the back window of the house, andalthough he was calling to me I couldn’t understand what he wastrying to say. Embarrassed, I worked without looking up, but I imag-ined his contorted mouth and the ring of keys attached to his belt—keys that jingled with each palsied step. He scared me and I workedquickly to finish the flower bed. When I did finish Mrs. Moore gaveme a quarter and two peaches from her tree, which I washed therebut ate in the alley behind my house.

I was sucking on the second one, a bit of juice staining the frontof my T-shirt, when Little John, my best friend, came walking downthe alley with a baseball bat over his shoulder, knocking over trashcans as he made his way toward me.

Little John and I went to St. John’s Catholic School, where we satamong the “stupids.” Miss Marino, our teacher, alternated the rowsof good students with the bad, hoping that by sitting side-by-sidewith the bright students the stupids might become more intelligent,as though intelligence were contagious. But we didn’t progress as shehad hoped. She grew frustrated when one day, while dismissing classfor recess, Little John couldn’t get up because his arms were stuck inthe slats of the chair’s backrest. She scolded us with a shaking fingerwhen we knocked over the globe, denting the already troubled Africa.She muttered curses when Leroy White, a real stupid but a great soft-ball player with the gift to hit to all fields, openly chewed his hostwhen he made his First Communion; his hands swung at his sides ashe returned to the pew looking around with a big smile.

contortedtwisted and strained

contagiousspread from oneperson to another;catching

4 trowel: a garden tool used to smooth, shape, or dig

Gary Soto


Looking for Work 69

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feignedpretended

Little John asked what I was doing, and I told him that I was tak-ing a break from work, as I sat comfortably among high weeds. Hewanted to join me, but I reminded him that the last time he’d gonedoor-to-door asking for work his mother had whipped him. I waswith him when his mother, a New Jersey Italian who could rise up inanger one moment and love the next, told me in a polite but matter-of-fact voice that I had to leave because she was going to beat herson. She gave me a homemade popsicle, ushered me to the door,and said that I could see Little John the next day. But it was soonerthan that. I went around to his bedroom window to suck my popsi-cle and watch Little John dodge his mother’s blows, a few hittingtheir mark but many whirring air.

It was midday when Little John and I converged in the alley, thesun blazing in the high nineties, and he suggested that we go toRoosevelt High School to swim. He needed five cents to make fif-teen, the cost of admission, and I lent him a nickel. We ran home formy bike and when my sister found out that we were going swim-ming, she started to cry because she didn’t have the fifteen cents butonly an empty Coke bottle. I waved for her to come and three of usmounted the bike—Debra on the crossbar, Little John on the han-dlebars and holding the Coke bottle which we would cash for anickel and make up the difference that would allow all of us to getin, and me pumping up the crooked streets, dodging cars and potholes. We spent the day swimming under the afternoon sun, so thatwhen we got home our mom asked us what was darker, the floor orus? She feigned a stern posture, her hands on her hips and hermouth puckered. We played along. Looking down, Debbie and Isaid in unison, “Us.”

That evening at dinner we all sat down in our bathing suits toeat our beans, laughing and chewing loudly. Our mom was in agood mood, so I took a risk and asked her if sometime we couldhave turtle soup. A few days before I had watched a television pro-gram in which a Polynesian tribe killed a large turtle, gutted it, andthen stewed it over an open fire. The turtle, basted in a sugary sauce,looked delicious as I ate an afternoon bowl of cereal, but my sister,who was watching the program with a glass of Kool-Aid between herknees, said, “Caca.”


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riftsdivisions, unfriendlyfeelings

My mother looked at me in bewilderment. “Boy, are you a crazyMexican. Where did you get the idea that people eat turtles?”

“On television,” I said, explaining the program. Then I took it astep further. “Mom, do you think we could get dressed up for dinnerone of these days? David King does.”

“Ay, Dios,”5 my mother laughed. She started collecting the dinnerplates, but my brother wouldn’t let go of his. He was still drawing apicture in the bean sauce. Giggling, he said it was me, but I didn’t wantto listen because I wanted an answer from Mom. This was the summerwhen I spent the mornings in front of the television that showed thecomfortable lives of white kids. There were no beatings, no rifts in thefamily. They wore bright clothes; toys tumbled from their closets. Theyhopped into bed with kisses and woke to glasses of fresh orange juice,and to a father sitting before his morning coffee while the mother but-tered his toast. They hurried through the day making friends and gobsof money, returning home to a warmly lit living room, and then din-ner. Leave It to Beaver6 was the program I replayed in my mind:

“May I have the mashed potatoes?” asks Beaver with a smile.“Sure, Beav,” replies Wally as he taps the corners of his mouth

with a starched napkin.The father looks on in his suit. The mother, decked out in ear-

rings and a pearl necklace, cuts into her steak and blushes. Theirconversation is politely clipped.

“Swell,” says Beaver, his cheeks puffed with food.Our own talk at dinner was loud with belly laughs and marked by

our pointing forks at one another. The subjects were commonplace.“Gary, let’s go to the ditch tomorrow,” my brother suggests. He

explains that he has made a life preserver out of four empty deter-gent bottles strung together with twine and that he will make meone if I can find more bottles. “No way are we going to drown.”

“Yeah, then we could have a dirt clod fight,” I reply, so happy tobe alive.

Whereas the Beaver’s family enjoyed dessert in dishes at thetable, our mom sent us outside, and more often than not I went intothe alley to peek over the neighbor’s fences and spy out fruit, apricotor peaches.

5 Ay, Dios: Spanish for “Oh, God” 6 Leave It to Beaver: a sitcom that aired from 1957 to 1963 on which the characters

Wally and Beaver were brothers

Gary Soto

bewildermentbeing confused or puzzled


Looking for Work 71

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profanityusing bad words;swearing

I had asked my mom and again she laughed that I was a crazychavalo7 as she stood in front of the sink, her arms rising and fallingwith suds, face glistening from the heat. She sent me outside wheremy brother and sister were sitting in the shade that the fence threwout like a blanket. They were talking about me when I ploppeddown next to them. They looked at one another and then Debbie,my eight-year-old sister, started in.

“What’s this crap about getting dressed up?”She had entered her profanity stage. A year later she would give

up such words and slip into her Catholic uniform, and into squeal-ing on my brother and me when we “cussed this” and “cussed that.”

I tried to convince them that if we improved the way we lookedwe might get along better in life. White people would like us more.They might invite us places, like their homes or front yards. Theymight not hate us so much.

My sister called me a “craphead,” and got up to leave with a stalkof grass dangling from her mouth. “They’ll never like us.”

7 chavalo: Spanish for “young person” 8 Armenian: from Armenia, a country in southeast Europe


Gary Soto72

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My brother’s mood lightened as he talked about the ditch—thewhite water, the broken pieces of glass, and the rusted car fendersthat awaited our knees. There would be toads, and rocks to smashthem.

David King, the only person we knew who resembled the mid-dle class, called from over the fence. David was Catholic, ofArmenian8 and French descent, and his closet was filled with toys.A bear-shaped cookie jar, like the ones on television, sat on thekitchen counter. His mother was remarkably kind while she put upwith the racket we made on the street. Evenings, she often wateredthe front yard and it must have upset her to see us—my brother andI and others—jump from trees laughing, the unkillable kids of thevery poor, who got up unshaken, brushed off, and climbed intoanother one to try again.

David called again. Rick got up and slapped grass from hispants. When I asked if I could come along he said no. David said no.They were two years older so their affairs were different from mine.They greeted one another with foul names and took off down thealley to look for trouble.

I went inside the house, turned on the television, and was aboutto sit down with a glass of Kool-Aid when Mom shooed me outside.

“It’s still light,” she said. “Later you’ll bug me to let you stay outlonger. So go on.”

I downed my Kool-Aid and went outside to the front yard. Noone was around. The day had cooled and a breeze rustled the trees.Mr. Jackson, the plumber, was watering his lawn and when he saw

me he turned away to wash off his front steps. There wasmore than an hour of light left, so I took advantage of itand decided to look for work. I felt suddenly alive as Iskipped down the block in search of an overgrownflower bed and the dime that would end the day right.�LITERARY LENS

How is the narrator’s

family like your family?

How is it different?

descentheritage; birth


Responding to Unit Two

R E F L E C T I N G

1. There are many different kinds of families in this unit. Some include onlyone parent. Others include grandparents and brothers and sisters. Basedon what you have read, what do you think makes a family?

2. Of all the families you read about in this unit, which would you most liketo have as your next-door neighbor? Why?

3. Think about Ashleigh’s predicament in “Ashes.” What do you think shewill do? What would you do in her place?

4. What does the minister mean when he says at Grandpa’s funeral, “This isa day to celebrate life”?

A N A LY Z I N G

5. Each of the families featured in this unit has strengths and weaknesses.Develop a chart like the one below and list the strengths and weaknessesof each family.

Selection Family Members Strengths Weaknesses

Looking for Work Gary Laughter No moneySister Caring Mom overworkedBrother Support Kids on their Mother own a lot

A Plate of Peas

Ashes

After the Divorce

Atomic Blue Pieces

The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw

Saying Good-bye to the Tall Man

6. What is the main idea, or major theme, of Gary Soto’s autobiographicalaccount, “Looking for Work”?

7. “The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw” might be called a “comedy of errors.”Analyze the mix-ups in this story that help to make it amusing.

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RESPONDING TO UNIT TWO

Family Album


113

8. The mood of a piece of writing is the primary feeling it conveys. For example,“The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw” has a light-hearted mood. How wouldyou describe the mood in the poem “Because I could not stop for Death”?

9. Active Reading What events in the story “A Plate of Peas” were you ableto predict in your reading? How often do you estimate you used the ActiveReading strategies of questioning and predicting in this unit?

D I S C U S S I N G

Different people in a family often take on different roles. For example, oneperson might be seen as the most responsible, another might be consideredthe most lighthearted, and a third might be thought of as the most emotional.What roles do you fulfill in your family? What roles do you perform in yourlife as a student and as a friend?

W R I T I N G

Tales of Great Aunt Jack Most families have stories that are passed from per-son to person and generation to generation. Interview family members aboutanother family member’s famous adventure or about a long-standing familytradition—or simply make one up! Use your interviews to develop an essay ora short story.

Look at Us Find photos of your family to create an album of your history.Assemble the photos in a book of your own making, starting with pictures ofyou and others when you were a baby and progressing to the present. At eachstage, write a short account of your impressions, memories, thoughts, or feel-ings about the people in the photographs.

WO R K I N P R O G R E S S

Roots As a class, work together to decide what a family tree showingextended family members or a friendship tree showing a circle of friendsmight look like. When you have gathered all your ideas, choose either thefamily tree or the friendship tree to work on individually. Try to include birthand death dates in the family tree and phone numbers or e-mail addresses inthe friendship tree.

Families of the World, Unite! Choose a country you have never been to andresearch the culture and traditions of families in the country. Answer ques-tions such as “What do families do for recreation?” “What is the average fam-ily size?” “What chores are assigned to the children?” Think of questionsyou’d like answered; then research the subject and give a short presentation.

Family Album

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Documents

Table of Contents€¦ · The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw Patrick F.McManus short story 93 Saying Good-bye to the Tall Man Rick Book short story 100 Because I could not stop for Death